A TUJ student watching a recording of the annual career fair
Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) hosted a virtual career fair on March 16, 2022, attracting a total of 228 students. The annual event, which included TUJ students as well as students invited from three Tokyo-based Japanese universities, offered opportunities for students to engage with representatives from 13 corporations as they consider their future career decisions.
The career fair was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic. Students from Sophia University, Waseda University and Showa Women’s University, as well as TUJ students, joined the career fair to get information about the participating companies. Several TUJ alumni took part as representatives of the firms, such as Dentsu Digital Inc., to share their insight and experience with students.
“Career fairs are a great opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of an employer’s values and culture and to expose themselves to new industries and job roles,” said Erica Adams, director of the career development office at TUJ. “We were excited to have a good range of companies to showcase to students this year. We are glad many students participated.”
Nicklas Fridell, a TUJ senior majoring in international affairs scheduled to graduate in the upcoming summer term, said that he learned about the goals and operations of companies by attending presentations. “I’ve done some research beforehand, but it’s always nice hearing from someone who works there,” said Fridell. “It’s nice to have the opportunity to ask questions directly. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Joy Uetake, who majors in international business studies and economics at TUJ, agreed with Fridell, saying “As a senior who will be graduating this semester, I found them very informative. I thought it opened me to a lot of companies that I probably wouldn’t have even tried for.” She has already applied for one company and after attending the career fair is considering applying to a couple more.
Recruiting firm Michael Page International Japan KK was impressed to see many enthusiastic students, asking questions. “Students prepared good questions,” said Kei Hatakeyama, talent acquisition specialist at Michael Page. “It was very engaging. A lot of students contacted me right after the meeting. This doesn’t happen often in many other meetings, so I was really impressed.” Hatakeyama said he was satisfied with the turnout and the level of interest by students after being contacted by more than 30 students following his presentation.
Participating corporations were as follows:
Amazon Japan, Meltwater, Rakuten, Dentsu Digital, Mitsubishi Fuso, Coach A, HDI Global, Michael Page, Square Enix, Link Japan Careers, Salesforce.com, American Engineering Corporation and Bloomberg